A chorus of barks rang out across Humboldt Park, echoing down the sidewalk and coming from dogs anxiously pulling on their leashes to greet people and pets walking past them. Their owners sat nearby in lawn chairs and stood, closely monitoring interactions between the pooches as they waited to be let into the Illinois National Guard building to receive free vaccinations and microchips for their pets on Saturday morning.
The third-annual “Vets and Pets” event, organized by the Cook County Department of Veterans Affairs, the County’s Department of Animal and Rabies Control, and Chicago Animal Care and Control, provided free rabies and distemper vaccines, as well as microchips, to the first 100 dogs in line. It aims to primarily support veterans, service members, and their families by providing free medical treatments, though the event is also open to the public.
A line stretched down the street by 8 a.m. despite the event beginning at 10. Ramero and Araceli Jasso left their home in Pilsen before dawn to arrive at the building by 5:30 a.m. to be among the first in line for the event with their rescue dogs, 8-year-old Paola and 5-year-old Surprise. The free services drew the Jassos, who have five pets, to the neighborhood.
“We come every year,” Ramero Jasso said. “To pay from my pocket, it’s too much.”
Veterans and relatives of service members were prioritized first for vaccines and microchips, an aspect of the event that the Jassos appreciated. Jasso’s grandson currently serves in the military, and while she recognized that people can receive good healthcare and retirement benefits, there needs to be more pet support for both veterans and non-military people, Araceli Jasso said.
“The old people, when they are no longer working, (have) more support from Social Security,” Araceli Jasso said. “(They) need more opportunities for health care for dogs or cats.”
Local pet owners also showed up hours in advance to try and snag a spot for their dogs. Jonathan Alvarez and Stefannie Colon left their home a few blocks from the park at 7:30 to get in line after missing out on the opportunity last year. They perched themselves, along with their two daughters, in lawn chairs on the sidewalk, their one-year-old Rottweilers Nova and Teddy lying on the ground next to them.
“It’s just so nice, you know, these are our fur babies,” Alvarez said. “For the people that don’t have kids, these are their kids.”
Pet medical expenses add up when you have multiple dogs or cats at home that need shots alongside the daily cost of living, Colon added.
“(The shots are) $100 each time you have to go. And then you have to go every two-to-four weeks when they’re puppies. So that’s back-to-back,” Colon said. “But when I found out about this, I was like, this is way better, because it’s just the necessities that they need.”
While a certain level of expected chaos ensued, both the pets and the owners waited patiently for the large black gates to open and for National Guard members to usher them in. For Colon, who plans to come to future events, the wait and save in expenses was worth it.
“We did it last year, and we were happy that they did it again this year so we were able to come,” Colon said. “It is amazing, and then they have more in different locations of Illinois, which is great.”
The county will host two more Vets and Pets events on Oct. 18 in Robbins and Oct. 25, again at the Kedzie Armory.
